Sunday, August 21, 2011

So today I thought I would share the opening scenes of a movie I'm slowly . . . very slowly trying to write.  It's a Turner Hahn/Frank Morales film.   Called Dubious Intent.

It's based off one of the Turner/Frank short stories I wrote some time back.  As you know, Turner and Frank or homicide detectives.  So yeah, it's a police-procedural kind of movie. 

I want it to make it visually unique.  And I want to fold quite a bit of music into it.  Michael Mann comes to mind to compare the style I'm trying to convey.  But Mann's work is not quite what I have in mind.  I want to rely more on John Ford's sparsity of dialogue and more on the images themselves in telling the story.  And of course, I want action.

In checking out the first scene you got to remember this;  it's a double-image screen.  Two different sets of action are going on at the same time.  Confusing to explain.  But I'm thinking it's gonna be visually stunning to behold. 

Or maybe I'm just biting off too much to chew.  I dunno.

But tell me what you think.

Dubious Intent


FADE IN:

(Double tracking-shots dividing the screen at the same time)


(TRACKING-SHOT NO. ONE)


INT. BACHELOR’S APT.—MORNING:


A SERIES OF ANGLE SHOTS


ANGLE SHOT NO. ONE: A man steps out of his bedroom and into a small hallway.


We see only the man’s TORSO and LEGS. He has on a


white SHIRT and a pair of tailored, expensive gray


SLACKS. As he walks down the hall we HEAR the hum


of an ELECTRIC SHAVER.

In the background we HEAR the grind of downtown traffic.


Screeching BRAKES—diesel engines—SIRENS wailing—


HORNS blaring.

SHAFTS of sunlight SLANT through big windows and


CREATE puddles of light on HARDWOOD FLOORS as


he walks through each.

ANGLE SHOT NO. TWO: The man enters a KITCHEN. The kitchen is PRISTINE


and SPARTAN in its cleanliness. He walks past a


REFRIGERATOR and PUNCHES the ‘play’ button of an


expensive stereo setting on the counter beside the frig.


Immediately MUSIC begins to play (The group, Deep


Dish, and their song FLASHDANCE)(the music plays


throughout the entire set of tracking-shots)


He TURNS to his LEFT and opens the frig’s door. He


grabs a long-neck bottle of beer and twist’s off the cap


and lift’s it to his lips. We SEE only the man’s strong


CHIN and a thin, well cropped black MUSTACHE. He


takes a long PULL from the bottle, the turns again to


face the small kitchen TABLE setting in front of the frig.


ANGLE SHOT NO. THREE: On the table is a WHITE towel. On the towel is a


DISASSEMBLED .45 caliber KIMBER semi-automatic


pistol. The weapon is a COLD BLUE piece of machined


steel brightly POLISHED and deadly.


We SEE only his HANDS as he begins to


assemble the pistol. He does so LOVINGLY and


METHODICALLY.


When assembled, the man reaches over to a kitchen


chair and grabs SHOULDER HOLSTER and WEBBING.


He INSERTS the gun into the holster and then sets the


holster and webbing onto the table before he begins to


button his shirt. Afterward he SLINGS over his shoulder


the holster and webbing and straps himself in. Reaching


over to a SECOND chair he grabs an expensive blue


SPORTS COAT and slides into it.







INT. LARGE GARAGE: The man exists through a door and begins DESCENDING


down set of wooden stairs. BELOW him is a long, narrow


garage floor filled with classic American-made MUSCLE


CARS of the 60’s though the 80’s. MUSTANGS,


BARRACUDAS, A PLYMOUTH ROAD-RUNNER are


immediately visible.



ANGLE SHOT NO. FOUR: He walks over to a large double-door steel CABINENT,


unlocks it, opens a door, and reaches in for a set of keys.


TURNING he strolls over to a 1967 GT 350 SHELBY


MUSTANG. The car is WHITE with RED racing stripes


running down the length of the car’s hood and roofline.


Sliding into the car he starts the engine. The deep,


powerful RUMBLE of the FORD V-8 is almost


SENSUAL to hear.


He slowly BACKS the MUSTANG up and then carefully


makes his way past the rest of his collection of cars and


EXITS out through a garage door.




EXT. RANCH HOUSE—MORNING: The SHELBY MUSTANG rolls to a fast


stop in front of a large, well-kept RANCH STYLE suburban


home. In front of the house is a DEEP, LUSH green yard.


Littering the yard are BICYCLES, TRICYCLES, and an


INFLATABLE children’s swimming pool.


On the porch is a rather unusual looking MAN and his


NORMAL looking family. The man looks like a modern


day NEANDERTHAL. He has stringy red hair, apparently


no NECK and a thick, cement-block shaped HEAD.


His wife is absolutely GEORGEOUS. The four boys, all


under the age of TWELVE, each are normal looking.



The NEANDERTHAL kisses his wife on the forehead,


JOSTLES the hair of each of his kids, then TURNS


and JOGS his way to the MUSTANG.






EXT. DIFFERENT SHOT: Just as FRANK MORALES climbs into the car


a CELL PHONE rings. The phone belongs to the DRIVER.


TURNER HAHN reaches inside his sport coat and retrieves


the phone.



TURNER


(close-up shot—revealing someone with a


strong resemblance to CLARK GABLE.)



VOICE


(coming out of cellphone speaker)






Turner, there’s been report of gunfire


over on Crawford and Holmes. Some


black-and-white’s are in route now.


But I want you and Frank to check it out.






TURNER

Sure, lieutenant. Be there in less


than twenty minutes.






EXT. SHOT: Mustang ACCELERATES rapidly from curb just as FRANK turns to


look at TURNER with a questioning glance.










(END OF TRACKING-SHOT NO. ONE:)










(TRACKING-SHOT NO. TWO)










INT. OFFICE FLOOR—MORNING:


A SERIES OF ANGLE SHOTS




ANGLE SHOT NO. ONE: A set of ELEVATOR doors open. In


the elevator is a woman. We SEE only her TORSO.


She is wearing a dark blue dress. Her FIGURE is


quite ALLURING.


The woman moves out of the elevator. She moves


as if she has a PURPOSE and MISSION to


accomplish. BRISKLY she walks pasts DESKS


and WORK STATIONS which are currently


unoccupied. In the background we hear the


CLOYING sounds of MUSAK playing some


unrecognizable song.



ANGLE SHOT NO. TWO: The woman makes a RIGHT turn and enters a


private office. The office belongs to the corporate


owner—definitely MALE in DÉCOR. One wall is


LITTERED with the heads of BIG GAME trophies.


A second wall is FILLED with PHOTOS of the


corporate owner KNEELING beside fresh kills of


various BIG GAME ANIMALS.


The woman walks across the LENGTH of the


deeply carpeted and SILENT office and comes to


a HALT in front of a huge glass-enclosed GUN


CASE. She UNLOCKS the case with a KEY and


reaches in and grips REMINGTON bolt-action


.308 caliber RIFLE. The weapon his a long, powerful


BUSHNEL telescope on it, along with a thick BULL


BARREL. Attached to the barrel is a TRIPOD.






Holding the rifle in her arms like a BABY she uses


one hand to open a drawer below the rack of guns.


From out of the drawer she removes ONE long,


GLEAMING brass cartridge. TURNING, she leaves


GUN CASE and the DRAWER open and walk’s toward


the office’s large OAK Desk setting just in front of


a large PLATE GLASS WINDOW.


ANGLE SHOT NO. THREE: The woman GENTLY deposits the weapon


onto the carpet directly in FRONT of the window.


She then slips to the carpet and WRAPS the gun


into her arms. She SLIDES the bolt action BACK


and insert the cartridge into the FIRING CHAMBER.


We have, so far, not seen her face.


Cradling the rifle she PUSHES the muzzle gently


through a HOLE cut into the lower right hand of the


WINDOW. Lifting the rifle up, she LOWERS her


head and settles into a PRONE firing position. We


catch a GLIMPSE of bright PLATINUM blond hair.


A HAND reaches up and begins ADJUSTING the


view of the scope. SATISFIED she begins a WAITING


game.






EXT. MORNING TRAFFIC: A BIRD’S EYE view of a long, straight city four


lane AVENUE jammed with bumper-to-bumper


traffic. On either side of the street is one


UNINTERRUPTED set of one or two-storied


commercial buildings. In the DISTANCE,


GLISTENING in the morning sun, is a


five-storied GLASS office building.


ANGLE SHOT NO. FOUR: In the INTERSECTION of the street is a


LINCOLN CONTINENTAL TOWN CAR. It is setting with its left turning signal blinking


WAITING to make turn.


Inside the car is the corporate CEO waiting


impatiently to make his turn. He is a man with a


HARD face. He once was an ATHELTE and he


is still in relatively good shape. But he has no


PATIENCE. His eyes have a HARD, CRUEL


look in them.


INT. CORPORATE OFFICE: Through the SCOPE we see the CROSSHAIRS


zero onto the PROFILE head shot of the man


in the TOWNCAR. At first the image is slightly


BLURRED but rapidly comes into FOCUS.


The man is centered into the crosshairs



ANGLE SHOT NO. FIVE: A FINGER curls around the TRIGGER of the


rifle. For a second or two it just TOUCHES


the trigger. But then we SEE it begin to


SQUEEZE slowly.


The rifle FIRES. The explosion of the firing is


DEFEANING. It LEAPS off the carpet but the


woman is in complete CONTROL.






EXT. LINCOLN TOWNCAR: There is an EXPLOSION of shattering GLASS.


The DRIVER is HURLED VIOLENTLY to the


passenger side of the car. The passenger side


WINDOW is COATED with blood and


brain matter.


The TOWNCAR is suddenly rocked from behind.


A JEEP CHEROKEE. The Jeep’s front end has


buried itself into the rear bumper and trunk of the


town car.

ANGLE SHOT NO. SIX: A young teenage boy gets out of the Jeep. He is


dressed in a high school LETTER JACKET and


is wearing blue jeans and SNEAKERS. Around him


IRATE drivers are honking their HORNS and screaming


obscenities at him as he walks up to the driver’s side


of the Lincoln. He too looks angry as he bends down


to peer into the car. But anger turns to horror as he sees


the BLOODY MESS within. He steps back, bends over


suddenly, and VOMITS all over the street.


INT. CORPORATE OFFICE: The woman, still WRAPED around the rifle like a


LOVER, wipes all of her fingerprints off the gun. She


then comes to her feet, walks to the gun case, and wipes


it clean of all prints. Satisfied all has been wiped clean


she turns and calmly walks out of the office and


DISAPPEARS.




DISSOLVE TO:



EXT. SHOT—STORM CLOUDS. Tower thunderheads, moving like an ominous


gray/blue curtains, building up higher and higher


into what once was deep blue skies. The sounds


of distant THUNDER is heard rumbling repeatedly.


EXT. SHOT—PEDESTRIANS standing around on the sidewalks staring at the same


scene. HOT pedestrians. Definitely suffering from the GRUELING


SUMMER HEAT.
























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